GB2240134A

GB2240134A - Rotatable stud and socket fastening

Info

Publication number: GB2240134A
Application number: GB9026685A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ning Zhang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-12-09
Filing date: 1990-12-07
Publication date: 1991-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 2010-12-07
Also published as: GB9026685D0; CN2066666U; CN2075878U; GB2240134B

Abstract

A stud and socket type fastening comprises parts which are united by rotation. The socket comprises a cylindrical member 13 having a pair of arcuate keyhole slots 3 in its base and a pair of convex teeth 8 on its inner wall. The stud, which may be a button, badge etc for clothing, has a head 10 and a pair of legs 11 which are headed by virtue of a circumferential recess 12. These are insertable into the arcuate slots 3 and by rotation the recess 12 engages the narrow part of the slot. A further associated member (retainer) comprises a plug 4 having a pair of recesses 5 to receive the ends of the legs 11. The plug also has peripheral teeth 6 forming concave indents to engage the convex teeth 8 of the socket 13. Upon insertion of the legs through the material 14 of eg clothing and into the large end of the arcuate slots 3 and thence into the recesses 5 of the retainer 4, rotation of the socket 13 causes rotation of the legs of the stud into the narrow section of the arcuate slots. The retainer plug 4 preferably also has a snap fit head 7 for engaging a central hole 9 in the socket. <IMAGE>

Description

Title of the Invention An Easily Fixable and Removable Fastener Background of the Invention The invention relates to an easily and removable fastener which is Particularly suitable for buttons or badges At present. conventional buttons or badges are secured to fabrics by means of sewing or safety pins which are complicated in fixation and removal and result in inconvenience in washing and ironing. A kind of button or badge Is nov available without using any safety pins ur sewings which is fixed by means of fastening Pins. steel balls or springs. But this kind of button or badge has disadvantges such as complicated structure and processing, heavy weight and high cost, etc., therefore. it is not satisfactory in practice.

In order to overcome the shortcoinings of the present buttons s or badges, o one object of the invention is to provide an easily fixable and removable rotary reciprocal fastening device for remedying these defects. The other objects of the invention can be easily seen froa the following illustration of the invention.

Summary of the Invention The present invention provides an easily fixable and removable fastener. comprising a locking unit and a fixing unit; the locking unit comprising a barrel-shaped part having a plurality of arcuate slots with enlarged entranee opening at the bottom of the barrel-shaped Part, at least one convex toothe on the inside of the barrel wall a keeper having a plurality of positioning huls on the upper surface and a plurality of teeth along its pheriphery surface to engage the convex toothe of the barrel-shaped part;; the fixing unit having a base with a plurality of projections thereon to fit swithin the slots and te positioning holes, the projections having concave parts theron to engage the slots for drawing the locking unit and the fixing unit fowards each other when the barrelshaped part turned.

The Present inventions also provides an easily fixable and removable fastener, wherein the barrel-shaPcd part has a pin hole in the centre of the bottom and the keeper has a axle Pin in centre of the upper surface to fit within the pin hole. The axle pin has a umbrella-type end to engage the pin hole The present invention also provides an easily fixable and removable fastener, wherein the barrel-shaPed Part has the conves teeth on the inside of its wall and facing each other.

The easily fixable and removable fastener is particularly suitable for buttons or badges. According to the invention, an easily fixable and removable fastener for using buttons or badges comprises a locking unit and a fixing unit. The fixing unit includes at least one fixing plug and one plug seat (the later inav be the main body of a button or badge), and the fixing plug includes at least one concave plateau or convex plateau. The locking unit includes at least one convex flanging hole or concave flanging hole to prevent the fixing plug from escaping from the locking unit. and the convex flanging hole or concave flanging hole eneages with the said concave plateau or convex Plateau on the fixing plug wherein the locking unit may be and independent memeber or a combined member.The easily fixable and removable fastener may be made of a plurality of materials such as petal and high molecular materials and can be formed by a variety of processes such as moulding, machining and in jection moulding, The fixing plug may have manu kinds of profiles but the circular is the preferable one. The number of concave plateaus or convex plateaus on said fixing plug may be more than one and say have many shapes.

One end of the fixing plug is tapered or flat and the other end of it is fixed on the plug seat or is integral with the seat, or may be directly fixed on the main body of a button or badge or is integral with the rain body.

The plug seat should be large enough to Prevent it from passing through a fabric (an object being fastenedj also when the fixing plug passes through the later. The plug seat may be made in various forms, e.g. a circular disk The end face of plug seat can be provided with a en-way groove or crossed grooves or other structures to simplify operations of tools e.g. a screw driver. When the fixing plug and the plug seat are fastened together, the fabric (the object being fastened) is situated between the locking unit and the Plue seat on fixing unit, and the fixing plug passing through the fabric (the object being fastened) ensages with the locking unlt.

The shape of locking unit according to the invention may be arbitrary but the conventional one is circular. The locking unit say be an independent member (shown as in Fig.lOa) or a combined member (shown as in Fig.la). The engagement of the locking unit and fixing unit will b e further illustraded in the following as well as in embodiments.

In service (taking a button or badge as an example).

first, pass the fixing plug on fixing unit through a fabric with the plug seat disposed on the opposite side of the fabric, neanwhlìe, with the convex flanging hole in alignment matching with the fixing plug, then, rotate it around a pivot (in the case of single plug, with the center of the plug as a pivot; in the cose of two plugs with the center of circle between the two plugs as a pivot).During the process of rotation (the involved concave-convex teeth and the convex teeth climbing each other), the concave-convex teeth on the periphery of the keeper of the locking unit will force the convex teeth on the barrel-sheped part of the locking unit engaging with those of the keeper to change its locus of movement in a normal rotation around pivot and to clinb such that the rodius of the locus of movement becowes greater and an elastic deformation appears in the portion of convex teeth. When ratating to a certain angle. the conves teeth of the barrel-shaped part begins to climb down, as it climbs down to a place to be arrived at, that is the convex teeth to return to its locus of movement in the normal rotation around pivot and being positioned. The convex flanging hole will keep off the concave plateau on fixing Plateau such that the fixing plug cannot escape from the locking unit, meanwhile. the fixing plus inserts in a locating hold therefore cannot rotate freely around a pivot, and is engaged with the concave-convex teeth on the periphery of the keeper of the locking unit in combination with the barrel-shaped part of the locking unit as well as the convex teeth in the barrel-shaped part of the locking unit each other so it is positioned (it may be positioned at any stage on the locus of the convex flanging hole; when the combined structure chooses a multi-stage positioning manner, the safety factor may be improved and if the wall of convex flanging hole is formed as an oblique surface, the thickness involved can be also adjusted), at last. release the aPPlied force, then the two units are fastened and fixed. In the operation or removal, we may employ a process just converse to the aforesaid.

The invention possesses folowing main advantages: (I) a wide range of applications, whether they being buttons, badges* decoration backles, paper flowers, collar insignias or they being electrical devices, switches, sockets, braces, rings for window curtain, they all being able secared by the fastening device according to the invention; (ii) easily available materials. simple processing and low costs; (iii) the locking units being interchangeable. able to be standordized and common used; (iv) simple and reasonable stracture. high combination strength, safety and reliability; (v) easily securing and removal operation and a high repetable use factor.

The embodiment according to the invention will be illustrated in the following with reference to accompanying drawings.

The fastener according to the present invention is nade mainly of metal, high molecular materials, etc. and it can be formed through various processes, e.g. moulding, machining or injection moulding.

Brief Descriptionof the Drawings Fig.1 is a front view of another embodiment according to the invention. illustrating how to assemble it for use; Fig.2 is a left cut-open view of fig,1.

Fig.3 is a front view of a locking unit member A of the locking unit (the assembled body).

Fig.4 is a right side vicw of fig.3.

Fig.5 is a front view of a locking unit member B of the locking unit (the assembled unit).

Fig.6 is a left side view of fig.5.

Fig.7 is a right side view of fig.5.

Fig.8 is a front view of the fixing unit shown in fig.1 .

Preferred Embodiments Refer to Fig.1-Fig.8. according to the required specification. shape. size and appearance design and through various processes such as machining and injective moulding, firstly, form a barrel-shaped part of the locking unit (denoted by 13) with a convex flanging hole 3, two or at least one convex teeth 8 and a pin hole 9, form a keeper of the locking unit (denoted by 4) wlth a positioning hole 5, an axle pin 7 and with concave-convex teeth along its pheriphery, the keeper 4 may be have a gear-shaped phoriphery surface. and its axle Pin 7 may be have a umbrella-shaped end: form a fixing unit 2 with a plug seat 10 and a fixing plug 11 which is provided with a concave plateau 12; then prcss the axle pin 7 fittingly into the pin hole 9 such that the barrel-shaped part 13 of the locking unit combines with the keeper 4 of the locking unit to form a combinator, a locking unit 1, which can rotate around the central line of axle pin 7. In service, first with one hand grasp the plug scat 10 which also the main body of button or badge, and push the fixing plug 11 on fixing unit 2 from the outer of a fabric to its inner, then with another hand slip the convex slanging hole of locking unit 1 in alignment on the dising plug 11.After the end of fixing plug has been inserted into the positioning hole 5, rotate the barrel-shaped part 13 of the locking unit relative to a pivot which is the center of circle between the two said plugs according to the direction shown as the arrow in the figure. During the process of rotation (at this moment. the fixing plug cannot rotate freely around the pivot since it has beeri positioned by inserting into the positioning hole 5), Le concave-convex teeth 6 on the periphery of the keeper 4 of the locking unit will force the convex teeth 8 on tile barrel-shaped part 13 of the locking unit engaging with those of the keeper 4 to change its locus of movement in a normal rotation around pivot and to climb such that the radius of the locus of movement becomes greater and on elastic deformation appears in the portion of convex teeth. When rotating to a certain angle. the convex teeth of the barrel-shaPed part 13 begins to climb down, as it climbs down to a place to be arrived a L. that is the convex teeth to return to its locus of f movement in the normal rotation around pivot and being positioned (perhaps, by rotating to the end 15 of the convex flanging hole. namely through several climbings up and down then to be positioned), the convex flanging hole 3 will keep off the concave plateau 12 on fixing plug 11 such that the fixing plug 11 cannot escape from the locking unit, meanwhile, the fixing plug 11 is Positioned through an engagement of the convex teeth 8 in the barrel-shaped part 13 of the locking unit and the concave-convex teeth 8 on the perphery of keeper 4 of the locking unit, then the two units are fastened and fixed. In the oPeration of removal, we may employ a process iustconverse to the aforesaid.

The easily fixable and removable fastener shown in the drawings are Primarily designed for using buttons or badges. Hovever, the design Principle suggested according to the invention may be advantageonsly be used for fastening other material.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown but can be materialized in many ways within the scope of the description and appended claims.

Claims

1. An easily fixable and removable fastener comprising a barrel-shaped part having a plurality of arcuate slots with an enlarged entrance opening at the bottom of the barrel-shaped part, at least one convex tooth on the inside of the barrel wall, and a keeper having a plurality of positioning holes on the upper surface and a plurality of teeth along its periphery surface to engage the convex tooth of the barrel-shaped part; wherein the fixing unit has a base with a plurality of projections thereon to fit within the slots and the positioning holes, the projections having concave parts thereon to engage the slots for drawing the locking unit and the fixing unit towards each other when the barrel-shaped part is turned.

2. A fastener according to claim 1, and further comprising a locking unit and a fixing unit, the locking unit comprises said barrel-shaped part.

3. A fastener according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the barrel-shaped part has a pin hole in the centre of its bottom, and the keeper has an axle pin in the centre of its upper surface to fit within the pin hole.

4. A fastener according to claim 3, wherein the axle pin has an umbrella-shaped end to engage the pin hole.

5. A fastener according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the barrel-shaped part has two convex teeth on the inside of its wall and facing each other.

6. A fastener according to claim 5, wherein the keeper has a gear-shaped periphery surface.

7. A fastener according to any one of the preceding claims when in the form of a button or badge.

8. A fastener constructed and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.